Alternative Source for Hot Water

Company installs, maintains water-heating systems

May 23, 2011 - North Carolina doesn't give customers a choice for their electricity provider, but an Asheville company has figured out a way to offer customers an alternative source for the next best thing: hot water.

FLS Energy installs large solar thermal water-heating systems for businesses and commercial customers, some of them requiring as much hot water as entire residential neighborhoods.

Contrary to the standard practice in the solar water heating industry, FLS owns and operates the solar receptors on the customer's property and charges the customer only a monthly bill for the energy produced.

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FLS was among about 150 exhibitors featuring their products and services in Raleigh last week at the annual ASES National Solar Conference. It was the first time in the conference's 40-year history that the American Solar Energy Society held the event in North Carolina.

The national solar organization came to Raleigh this year in recognition of the state's advances in solar power over the past few years. Solar power has benefited greatly from a 2007 state law requiring North Carolina to increase its reliance on renewable resources to meet the state's energy demand.

Most solar projects here and nationwide, called solar photovoltaic, generate electricity, creating mini-power plants on rooftops and vacant fields. During the four-day conference, visitors toured a giant exhibit hall at the Raleigh Convention Center that featured the latest offerings in racks, mounts, cables, connectors and solar panels for photovoltaic systems. {continued}